


Keep Me Warm In This October

by Pixietails



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: And dumb boys, Because they are dumb and cute and stupidly sweet, F/M, Gen, M/M, being cute, just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2019-01-18 21:54:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12397008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixietails/pseuds/Pixietails
Summary: October had always been one of Remus’ favorite months.  The sky never seemed to be able to make up its mind, turning from a pale. cloudless blue to stormy, churning gray in a matter of minutes.  On colder nights and mornings, a gentle, silvery mist clung to the ground, which, coupled with the blazing reds and oranges of many of the Hogwarts trees, gave the dazzling impression of a large, cozy fire.  Even the seemingly ever-present chill could not put a damper on the way he felt.  Instead of bemoaning the onset of an early winter, Remus was the type of person who delighted in layering on warm, comfortable clothing and did not at all seem to mind the constant commentary regarding his (rather well-worn) jumpers.





	Keep Me Warm In This October

**Author's Note:**

  * For [itsnotlove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsnotlove/gifts).



> Happy birthday Liz! I love you so much!!

    October had always been one of Remus’ favorite months.  The sky never seemed to be able to make up its mind, turning from a pale. cloudless blue to stormy, churning gray in a matter of minutes.  On colder nights and mornings, a gentle, silvery mist clung to the ground, which, coupled with the blazing reds and oranges of many of the Hogwarts trees, gave the dazzling impression of a large, cozy fire.  Even the seemingly ever-present chill could not put a damper on the way he felt.  Instead of bemoaning the onset of an early winter, Remus was the type of person who delighted in layering on warm, comfortable clothing and did not at all seem to mind the constant commentary regarding his (rather well-worn) jumpers.

    As the month rolled in, gray and cold, James and Sirius had come up with the rather boring game of taking bets regarding Remus’ choice of clothing for the day.  Would he wear the fluffy cable knit that gave him the appearance of an oddly sized sheep?  Or maybe he fancied the woolen gray cardigan that paired rather handsomely with (Sirius’ favorite) long crimson scarf?  Surely Remus wouldn’t wear the over-sized stripey one again?  The last time he had worn it James had made the offhanded comment that all three of them would fit comfortably inside, with _possibly_ enough room left over for Peter — if he sucked in his gut, of course.

    Unfortunately, the week preceding the full moon dared to fall directly in the middle of the month, and, as the days lead up to the nineteenth, Remus began to feel both drained and incredibly grumpy.  The larger the moon became, the less he felt like doing anything at all, and he had taken to retreating to the warmth of his four-poster bed whenever possible.  On the eighteenth Remus barricaded himself in bed, wrenching the curtains shut and wrapping himself up in his duvet like some sort of bizarre cocoon.  This, as his closest friends knew, meant it was time for them to fully step up take care of their Moony (as though they didn’t _always_ ), which meant bringing warm drinks, large hunks of chocolate, and whatever book they thought might alleviate some of the discomfort.

    “Bit more beastly this month than usual, don’t you think?” James asked, pulling himself up on one of the kitchen counters as several house elves scurried about his ankles in search of food.  “About took my hand off when I tried to get him to drink some water.  I didn’t even want to bring up _eating_ after that.”

     “Well thank goodness tomorrow night will be different, eh?” Sirius said earnestly, mouth half full of the chicken sandwich he had accepted from one of the elves.  “Honestly, I never understood why he thought the _werewolf_ bit of him was the monster.  Have you ever tried to talk to him in the morning when he’s all sleepy-eyed and tousled?  That’s the real terror right there.”

    Between them, Peter listened rather awkwardly, looking very much as though he wished he hadn’t come.  Even the prospect of unlimited sandwiches had not cheered him up very much, though that hadn’t stopped him from accepting a second one.  

    “But they _are_ dark creatures, werewolves, ” Peter explained.  ”I mean, the chapter on them was really huge, and there were all kinds of horrible things — ”

     “Oh come off it, Wormtail,” Sirius spat, tossing the last of his crust at Peter’s head and earning a small squeak in return.  “Really; I’m appalled!  You know you can’t really trust anything written in _books_ — especially _textbooks_.  Absolute rubbish!  How thick can you be?”

    “And don’t pretend you’ve ever actually paid attention to a single lecture in your entire life, either.”

    “I fully expect you to go straight back to the dorm and apologize to Moony for your hideous bias and slanderous lies.”

    “But, I — ”

    “No, no — don’t even bother,” Sirius dramatically continued.  “I don’t want to hear the excuses.  You’ve broken my heart!  How will I ever continue on?”  And at this he clutched his chest theatrically then abruptly slumped sideways into James, who had already leapt from his spot on the counter to catch his best friend as he fell.

    “Wormtail!” James snapped, holding a now-limp Sirius in his arms and looking for all the world as though he might begin crying at any given moment.  “Take it back, quickly!”

    “Wh—?”

    “You’re killing him!  Look, he’s gone all pale!”

    “He _always_ looks like that — ”

    “And me, Peter!  I’m so _outraged_ by your bigotry that my hair’s standing on end!”

    “But your hair’s always standing up!” Peter argued, beginning to look extremely worried and quite a bit shaken despite all of his protests.

    “I don’t even want to _think_ about what’s happening to Moony right now.  What if you’ve killed him too?” James finished, allowing his voice to crack ever so slightly.  

    “Okay, okay!” Peter shouted, his round face flush with anxiety.  “I’m sorry! I wasn’t trying to say _Remus_ was a monster!  I-I’m not bigoted!  He’s my friend!”

    “And a damn good one,” said Sirius, hopping lightly to his feet with a grin.  “Nice one, Prongs — you really sold it there, mate.”

    “One of my better performances, I think,” James agreed.

    Amid congratulatory pats on the back and a dramatic re-telling of Peter’s terror-stricken face, a small group of house elves came trotting up to them.  Each elf was smiling cheerfully, pleased that they were able to offer them several things to take along with them: a large, silver thermos full of hot chocolate; a basket full of extra sandwiches and plain toast; clean mugs; and a platter of four small, chocolate cakes, covered by a gleaming cloche.  James looked over the offerings and nodded his approval before carefully concealing them inside of his Invisibility Cloak.

    “Well this all looks good.,” James commented.  “I think that’s pretty much all we need right now.  We should be getting back, anyway; we don’t want to give Moony time to start hibernating.”

—

    Being Saturday, there was no rule against students milling about the corridors at their leisure.  Though it was still fairly early in the day the trip back to Gryffindor tower felt much darker than usual given the intensity of the rain splattering each and every window of the castle.  With the weather so unforgiving and uninviting, the corridors had become eerily empty — even the teachers seemed to have taken to their own offices or the staff room to seek out light and warmth.   Thankfully that made the ascent upstairs all the easier; it was, after all,  a bit difficult to carry a great parcel of food without looking suspicious, even _with_ the aid of the Invisibility Cloak.

    “D’you have to carry it like that?” Sirius asked, casting a sideways glance at James.  “You look like a git.  No, wait — hold on….ah, no.  That’s how you always look, sorry.  Guess it can’t be helped, then.”

    James snorted.  “You’re welcome to take over if you don’t like the way I’m carrying it.  Personally I don’t see anything wrong; only the best and brightest would even notice.  Give a guy some credit, would you?”

    “Blind and deaf people could tell that you’re up to something, you absolute idiot.  Tuck in your elbows and keep your hands overlapped so it just looks like you’re pretending to be thoughtful and intelligent.”

    “I don’t have to _pretend_ to be intelligent.  You, on the other hand...”

    “How do you explain those glasses, then?  All just a clever ruse?”

    “Damn, you’ve figured me out, Padfoot old friend.  All these years I’ve been hiding a terrible secret from you.  More alarming than anything Moony’s got up his sleeve.”

    “Bet there’s not even lenses in those things.”

    “I’m all about the aesthetic.  Girls love a smart-looking guy.”

    “It’s honestly miracle you can even fit them onto your swollen head, Potter.”

    A cool, rather bored-sounding voice called out from behind the trio, causing James to all but jump out of his skin.  He spun around so quickly that he nearly flung the basket out of his arms in the process.  Realizing how he must look to outsiders, James at least had the sense to try and pose casually, as though his heart hadn’t suddenly begun thumping violently against his rib cage.

    “All right, Evans?”

    Beside him Sirius let out a snort of laughter.  Peter watched in abstract horror, already anticipating the worst.  Lily, however, simply rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh before she turned her sights to Sirius.

    “Remus was looking for you.  He said he thought you might be in the library trying to smuggle out a new book for him or something.  I don’t think he’s feeling very well; he was really hard to understand and he had himself all wrapped up.  Has he got a cold or something?”

     “Oh, he got out of bed then?” James asked, attempting (and failing) to sound very nonchalant.  “That’s good.  Very good.  Great.”

     Sirius, however, did not give Lily the time to respond to James as he was far more eager to ask his own questions.

     “Did you say he’s looking for _me?_ Specifically?”

    A strange, fluttering feeling settled in the pit of Sirius’ stomach, though he could not for the life of him quite understand what it meant.  The feeling was not altogether unfamiliar, nor was it completely unpleasant, but it concerned him all the same.  Usually it occurred whenever Remus praised him for something he had done, or decided to take his side.  Sometimes it happened when Remus simply just smiled at him for no reason.  Such smiles always left him with a smug sort of satisfaction, as though Remus’ attention was the ultimate prize any of them could obtain.

     “Well, all of you I suppose,” Lily replied, sounding just a bit less than thrilled.  James seemed to be trying quite hard to pose and look as handsome as possible on the off chance that Lily looked his way.  “But he asked for you by name.  He looked so pitiful I promised I’d come looking for you.”

    Faint warmth crept into Sirius’ face, and he turned to look at James and Peter as though to gloat.  His spirits deflated almost instantly though when he realized neither had turned to look at him.  

    “Well then we’d better get back to him,” he said, sounding slightly dejected.  “Coming, Evans?”

    Finally Lily forced herself to consider James, who now vaguely resembled a statue of some ancient gallant knight holding an invisible sword.  It took great effort on her part not to burst into laughter.

    “No. . . no, I don’t think so.  Not quite yet.  Dorcas and Mary are in the library and I think I’d rather go back and join them.”  She paused, watching James for a moment longer.  “Why are you standing like that?  You look even more ridiculous than you usually do.”

    Again, Sirius intervened — and luckily so.  For a brief moment James appeared to have quite forgotten just what he was holding and gave the slightest impression that he meant to drop his arms, which, of course, would have been a disaster the likes of which Hogwarts had never seen.

    “Dunno what you’re on about Evans,” said Sirius.  “He looks completely normal to me.  Very tall, dark, and handsome — wouldn’t you agree?  They don’t make ‘em like this anymore, after all.”

    Sighing once again, Lily turned away and marched off toward the library with the air of having just escaped a very unpleasant situation.  Though James came out of the encounter looking fairly pleased (and perhaps a bit glassy-eyed) Sirius was positive that he heard Lily mutter something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like the word ‘ _boys._ ’

—

    The rest of the trip was met with empty corridors and stony silence, save for a moment in which both Sirius and Peter had to prise James free of the trick stair that, by their age, they should have all had the sense to jump.  But James as it turned out was not thinking about the staircases, or his burden, or even the approaching full moon: his mind was full of a red-haired girl whose smile (something he wasn’t sure he had ever received) shone brighter even than the sun.  Despite this common affliction, Sirius and Peter somehow made their way back to Gryffindor tower without stuffing James into some forgotten passageway due to their own embarrassment.

    Though he wouldn’t have said it out loud, Sirius couldn’t entirely blame James for his behavior; ever since talking to Lily, he had experienced a similar sort of haze creep into his head.  For some reason he just couldn’t shake the odd feeling of happiness building in the pit of his stomach, and the closer they came to the dormitory the harder it was to hide a smile.  

    Although he was ill, tired, and grumpy, Remus had shuffled out of bed and down to the common room in search of Sirius.  He had asked for him _by name_ .  According to Lily he hadn’t asked ‘Where’s Sirius, James and Peter?’ no — nothing like that at all.   He had instead asked where _Sirius_ was, and for one wild moment Sirius was overcome by the terrible urge to throw such a fact in his best friend’s face.

    The urge, however, passed as they entered their dormitory, and Sirius was thankful for that: Remus wouldn’t appreciate the volume of his voice for one thing.  At the very least he would begin to ask uncomfortable questions that Sirius was positive he didn’t have the answers for.  Luckily he was spared having to think of such things for even a moment longer, since the sound of their footsteps caused the slumbering beast to stir.

    With a sleepy frown, Remus rose from safety of his duvet, his hair falling into disorderly curls around his face.  His bleary gaze traveled over each one of his friends in turn, apparently confused by the looks on their faces.  Clearly they were hiding something, he could tell as much by the way James was standing.  But each of them (and especially Peter) bore an increasingly guilty look upon their faces.

    As he sat there watching, waiting for the inevitable to happen, Sirius stepped forward eagerly.  Remus was hard pressed not to roll his eyes and resisted the urge to dive back into his bed covers and just ignore everything.  But they had obviously brought him something, and though he didn’t exactly _care_ at the moment, it would be rude to brush them off.

    Clearing his throat, Sirius drew himself up to his full height as though he were trying to make himself the most impressive thing in the room.  Considering he was the tallest one of them already at fifteen (‘ _nearly_ sixteen!’ he had argued only a week prior) he didn’t have to try very hard to appear imposing.   

    “Remus J. Lupin, prepare to be amazed!” he announced, tearing the Cloak away from the parcel with a dramatic flourish.  “Everything a sickly Moony needs!  We have chocolate, we have protein, we have toast and — well, more chocolate I suppose.  But it’s also hot!  And way better than tea on a day like this, don’t you think?”

    James set the basket down on the edge of the bed, and began to pour out a small cup of hot chocolate.  By now he had regained nearly all of his composure, and thoughts of Lily Evans had faded from his mind now that there was work to be done.

   “Here you go; drink this.  And don’t you go telling us you don’t want it after all the trouble we went through.  You’ll break our hearts.”

   “Right,” Sirius agreed, pulling back the cloth that covered the sandwiches.  “And good luck putting them back together properly when you’ve gone and wounded us all.”

   “What if you ended up giving me Pete’s heart or something?” James asked, aghast.  “Could you even imagine?  I think I’d die!”

   “Or at the very least wet yourself when Evans so much as glanced at you.  Mind you, you’re not far off from doing that now…”

    Sensing danger, Remus leaned forward and accepted his drink before James could decide whether or not he actually wanted to hurl it at Sirius’ head.  “So that’s where you lot went.  I thought maybe you’d gone all the way into Hogsmeade or something considering how long you were gone.”

    Sirius winced slightly at the raspy tone of Remus’ voice, but seemed altogether relieved that he was at least drinking something.  “Well, I _wanted_ to, but Prongs here insisted that you needed actual, proper food and not just loads of sweets.  He ruins all the fun.”

    “And who was gorging himself on everything the house elves had to offer?  ‘This was such a good idea, Prongs!  You always have the best plans!  Why did I ever doubt you?’”

    “Oi!  I didn’t say anything like that!”

    “Yes you did!  Your mouth was probably too full for you to make out your own words, but that’s what you said.  Why would I lie to you?”

    “Well at least I didn’t trip all over myself and act like a damn fool ‘cause Evans came by.”

    “For your information I was very charming and clever.  I haven’t got the slightest idea what you mean.”

    “‘E-E-Evans, am I-I allowed to e-exist in the s-s-same room as y-you?  P-Please y-yell at me, it only makes m-me love you m-m-more.’”

    “Piss off.”

    “Git.”

    “Wanker.”

    “Sounds like you have a productive afternoon,” Remus said over the top of his cup.  “I asked Lily if she’d seen you; guess she found you all right.”

    Momentarily forgetting James, Sirius turned his attention back to Remus.  “Oh, right — she said you asked for _me_.”  Helping himself to another sandwich, Sirius lay across the entirety of the bed, his cool gaze fixated on Remus’ face.  “Really, Remus — I’m flattered that I came to mind first.”

   “I swear if your ego gets any bigger your head is going to swell up to the size of a pumpkin.”  Remus gave a small roll of his eyes and took another sip of his hot chocolate.  “I asked Lily if she had seen you, or the others.  I figured mentioning your name would yield better results than asking about James.  Looks as though I was right.”

     James scoffed somewhere to Remus’ right, but before he could come up with any sort of counter-argument, Sirius pulled himself up and all but launched himself against Remus’ cocooned body in a very good imitation of a needy puppy.  In fact it was so convincing that Remus had to made sure that Padfoot hadn’t suddenly appeared to blackmail him for ear scratches.

    “Will your reign of terror ever stop?”  Sirius asked, allowing his full weight to fall against Remus.  “Here I was, thinking you actually _missed_ me, but it turns out you only wanted us for chocolate!  I feel so _used!_ ”

    “And yet you don’t seem to mind eating the food you apparently brought for me,” Remus replied.

   Sirius made a derisive noise and took a massive bite of his sandwich.  “Finder’s fee.”

   “You’re such a pleasant young man, Sirius.”

    “Thanks; I try.”

   Weight shifted at the end of the bed, and Remus glanced down to see that Peter had taken a seat and was now helping himself to another sandwich as well.  Following suit, James grabbed not one but two sandwiches, and plopped down on Remus’ right, reclining against his shoulder in a similar manner to Sirius.

   “C’mon now, you’ve gotta eat too.  So here, take a sandwich — since you’re sort of sandwiched yourself.  That means you can’t say no, so really, don’t even bother arguing.”

    Sighing softly, Remus begrudgingly accepted one of the sandwiches and took an obliging bite.  He didn’t exactly feel hungry, but deep down he realized that he really did need to eat.  Despite his complaints and bad temper, he knew that his friends were really just doing their best to take care of him.  They loved him just as much as he loved each one of them.  They were a _family_ , and though he could never actually manage to vocalize just how important they were to him, he was positive that they were aware of just how much he appreciated them.  And when the full moon rose the following night he understood that, without a doubt, they would continue to watch over him, as they had always done.

—

    The morning of the twentieth dawned a gorgeous, opalescent blue with only the faintest hint of wispy clouds drifting lazily across the autumn sky.  The rain had completely dissipated, and the week promised to be slightly warmer and more comfortable for at least a little bit longer.  Though he felt it was still too cold to open a window, Remus was at least content to lie in a warm, comfortable bed, exhausted but recovering, and watch the sunlit grounds when he was not catching up on his rest.  

   Madam Pomfrey had given Remus the permission to return to class on Wednesday and had, as such, discharged him from her care Tuesday afternoon.  The sun had begun its descent already, casting columns of golden light across the floor from the high windows just outside the hospital wing.  And to Remus’ surprise, he was not alone as he stepped into the corridor to make his way back to his dorm: Sirius was waiting there, seated against the wall and apparently engrossed in some bizarre project.

    For a moment Remus didn’t say anything, since it became clear to him that his presence had not yet been discovered.  Instead he stood and watched Sirius, a faint smile growing on his face as he realized the other teen was attempting to enchant a small pile of sparkling parchment bits.  Each piece was brightly colored, and gave feeble hops whenever Sirius prodded them with his wand, but other than that refused to cooperate.  Eventually Sirius cursed under his breath and settled for levitating the pieces.  It didn’t create the same effect he had been working toward, but once he broke the charm the pieces fluttered to the ground like shimmering falling stars.

    However, it wasn’t the confetti that had captivated Remus’ attention, but rather Sirius himself.  There was no attempt on his part to look impressive or handsome, nothing haughty or dramatic.  For just a moment Remus had a glimpse at something completely real, and greedily he drank it all in, as though wanting to memorize the scene in front of him.

    Rosy sunlight cascaded across Sirius’ form,  his dark hair glowing as though luminous, golden ribbons had been woven through his hair.  His storm-colored eyes, normally so cool and beautiful, reflected the warmth of the October afternoon, glittering as he watched the parchments bits flutter gracefully to the floor.  Was it just a trick of the light that made his eyes twinkle like that?  Or was it something akin to the happiness and wonderment lying just behind them?

    After a few moments (far too few, in Remus’ opinion) Sirius finally noticed that he wasn’t alone and shot to his feet in surprise.  Shimmering confetti whirled around his feet as he moved, and Remus couldn’t hide a small laugh at the look on his friend’s face.  

    “Sorry,” he said, still smiling pleasantly and looking as though he was not, in fact, sorry at all.  “I didn’t disturb something terribly important, did I?”

    It became immediately obvious that Sirius was not nearly as amused.

    “I was trying to enchant them to float and fall down, then rise back up again like a snow globe or something,” he pouted.  “I could get them to levitate and fall, that’s easy, but they weren’t doing _exactly_ what I wanted so I tried to refine it, and — well it’s all a bit stupid now, isn’t it?  I was going to _surprise_ you and cheer you up!  But then you ruined it.”

    Remus was still smiling, but Sirius had become far too flustered to notice its authenticity.  Feeling as though he were being mocked, he waved his wand over the fallen jewel-bright confetti, vanishing them in an instant.  It was only after he had cleaned up in a huff that he realized Remus was no longer smiling at him.

    Wait — was he _upset_?

   The very last thing Sirius wanted to do was disappoint or upset Remus, but as they stood there in the changing light he felt as though he had made a mistake.  Though he wasn’t crying or even _speaking_ , the change in Remus’ expression had not gone unnoticed.  The smile had slipped into something close to surprise, only to fall into something far more depressing.

   “You didn’t have to do that,” he said quietly.  “I rather liked the attempt.  It was pretty.”

   Feeling warm and just a bit dumb, Sirius averted his eyes and glanced instead toward the window as though he were captivated by the small, rust-colored finch that had landed just outside.  “Oh.  Well, you know...it wasn’t really working out.  And maybe it was a bit childish.  But you just had a really bad full moon this time, and chocolate didn’t seem to be enough on its own.  And after I got kicked out I didn’t really want to go back to class, so I sat down here to wait for you instead.  I thought...I thought maybe I should do something more, something to make you — well — m-make you _smile_   I could make you more, though.  I-If you wanted.”

    Remus continued to watch him, feeling a warmth flutter through his stomach.  Curiously enough the effect seemed to travel up into his chest, causing his heart to beat just a little bit faster, and if he wasn’t so concerned about the faint pink glow of his own face he might have realized that he wasn’t the only one who was struggling.

    The fact that Sirius had skipped class did not settle poorly with him for once.  In fact it only made him think more fondly of Sirius.  It was touching that Sirius had refused to leave him, and had instead settled beside the door to the hospital wing to wait.  James and Peter had, of course, visited him as much as possible but Sirius went even beyond their daily visits and made sure that Remus would not be alone when he was finally discharged.  And to top it all off he had attempted to make something bright and colorful, something sweet that would make Remus smile.  

    And he had so overwhelmingly succeeded.

    “I dunno...I think I sort of prefer the way you did it.”  Sirius looked at him quickly, and Remus continued on before he could be interrupted.  “You weren’t showing off, or making a spectacle of things.  I got to see you working, got to see the focus on your face as you tried so hard to get it right.  It was really — “

    Cute?

Charming?

                _...Romantic?_

    “Sweet.”

    High color flushed Remus’ face, and it was all he could do not to bury himself in the relative safety of the scarf he had let hang around his neck.  His only solace was that Sirius had the grace to blush as well.

    “You think so?”  he asked.  Though still rather pink, Sirius’ spirits had risen, bringing forth one of his more brilliant smiles.  “Well, I want only the best for my Moony.  You’re not allowed to be sad or alone, you know.  It’s against the rules.  And you’re a _prefect_ ; you can’t just go round breaking those things.  That would be chaotic.”

    Faint laughter spilled from Remus’ throat, genuine and warm.  “Ah, well, now you’ve got me.  Imagine what this school would be like if us prefects didn’t follow the rules?”

    “It’d be a madhouse!”  Sirius replied, unable to suppress a small laugh of his own.  “Thank goodness I’m here to keep you in line.”

    “Fancy keeping me out of trouble a bit longer?  Only it feels sort of, er...warm in here.  I think I’d like to get some air.”

    There was a brief moment in which Remus noticed an odd look cross Sirius’ face, and for a split second he felt an icy sense of panic grip his chest.  Had he said something wrong?  Was he a little _too_ obvious?  The last thing he wanted to do was to make Sirius feel uncomfortable or end up running him off, but as quickly as the expression came, it had vanished.

    “Of course!  Allow me to escort you, my fair Moony.”  Smiling once again, Sirius swept into a low, dramatic bow, complete with flourish.  Bolstered by the happy laughter he received in response, Sirius quickly straightened up and offered his arm to Remus, who, he was disappointed to see, refused the assistance and began walking off ahead.

    “Hey!  I’m trying to be charming, you can’t just walk off on me!”

    “Well then you’d better hurry and catch up, hadn’t you?” Remus called over his shoulder.  Bemused, Sirius trotted briskly after him, promising himself silently that his next attempt would go over even better.

—

    The faint warmth from the sun had already begun to fade, but neither Remus nor Sirius seemed to be too concerned.  They were both dressed warmly enough to stave off the encroaching chill, and even the gentle wind which brought with it the first whispers of winter did nothing to slow them down.

    The grounds were, for the moment, empty as classes were still in session.  After that, dinner would begin, and students would file neatly into the Great Hall, which meant they had even more time alone outside if they wanted it.  Though the sun would sink below the horizon before long, Remus was intent to at least appreciate a few minutes of the season he loved so much.

    As they walked, Remus found himself watching Sirius out of the corner of his eye rather than the ground in front of him.  There were suddenly dozens of things he wanted to say to him, and yet not a single feeling managed to manifest itself into words.  Every time he felt himself on the verge of spilling something he had buried deep inside the words died on his lips, fading into mist that hung in the chilly, October air.  After a while he gave up on the idea, only to have it replaced by the terrible urge to take Sirius’ warm hand into his own.  But he couldn’t do that — that would complicate things.

   If he ran Sirius off…

   Shaking off the desire, Remus glanced ahead, realizing with a small shock that they had already reached the edge of the forbidden forest.  Here there were trees of all sorts; tall pines that stood sentinel over the secrets within, green and daunting.  Smaller trees burned bright and radiant, raining down vivid scarlet, burnt orange, and brilliant gold. The ground was peppered with fallen leaves, some already dry and dull brown, others still fresh and vivid.  The thought of holding Sirius’ hand was quickly driven out of his mind, replaced instead with the childish wish of creating a large pile of leaves to jump into.  And as it turned out, Sirius seemed to have similar ideas in mind.

   Without a word, a massive, shaggy black dog appeared at Remus’ side and, with a joyful bark, launched himself forward into the trees.  A surprised smile played across Remus’ lips as he hurried along after the dog, but he was ultimately no match for Padfoot’s speed.  Defeated, he found a comfortable tree to sit beneath, its sparse leaves allowing the last vestiges of sunlight to drift softly through.

    “Honestly!” he called, receiving a series of happy barks in return.  “I’m going to put you on a leash one of these days!  See that I don’t!”

    Still smiling and fighting laughter (it _wasn’t_ funny, really!  Not even a little!) Remus waited for Sirius to return.  If he was going to be honest, though, he really didn’t mind sitting there at all.  Light fell around him in hazy beams, illuminating the forest floor enough for him to spot one of the last, rare dandelion clocks of the season.  He shifted closer to it, plucking it from the ground gently, so as not to disturb its downy bloom.

   As a child Remus had eagerly collected anything and everything that grew wildly in the land around his secluded house.  And though he found himself mostly alone, save for his mother, he adored the childhood idea of telling the time with dandelion clocks.  His mother had explained to him that it was how fairies told the time.  Full of childish wonder, Remus had spent ages searching for fairies wherever dandelions flowered, only to return home disappointed at never finding a single one.

    Smiling at the memory, Remus contemplated the dandelion for several moments before blowing gently, sending puffs of down floating through the air.  One — two — three times was all it took to send every seedling drifting along the evening wind, and as Remus watched them vanish into the shadows, his eyes were drawn to the dark shape approaching through the autumn haze.

    Sirius had returned, still bearing the form of the large, black dog, but he had brought back with him a present of sorts.  A massive, gold-red leaf was clutched delicately in his jaws, and when he reached Remus he dropped the leaf for inspection and plopped down bodily, his head coming to rest on Remus’ legs.  Stormy eyes glanced meaningfully upward, and the slightest whimper reverberated in Padfoot’s throat.  

    “Sirius, no,” Remus moaned.  “You’re not being fair.  Not even close to it.”  In reply, Padfoot gave another high-pitched, pathetic little whine, drawing out a sigh of defeat.

    “Oh, all right then.”

    One hand came to rest on Padfoot’s head, scratching each ear gently in turn.  The other picked up the leaf that had been brought back, and though he did not see anything dramatically special about it, Remus found himself believing it to be the single most important leaf he had ever seen.  Maybe it was silly of him, or just as childish as telling time on dandelion clocks, but Padfoot — _Sirius_ — had picked it out just for him.  He had brought something pretty back for Remus with the sole intention of getting him to smile.

    And maybe to give him pets as well, but that was beside the fact.

    “You know, I think I’ll keep this leaf in one of my books.  It’ll make a nice bookmark, I expect.  What do you think?”

     “ — You’re really going to keep it?”

   Alarmed by the sudden voice, Remus looked down quickly to find that Sirius had shifted back into himself without so much as a sound.  Fingers still tangled in the other’s dark hair, Remus stiffened, feeling embarrassed and a little bit flushed once again.

    “O-oh, er — I thought you w-were still — well, I didn’t notice — wh-when did you change back anyway?”

    Ignoring the question, Sirius repeated his query: “You actually want to keep that thing?  It’s just a leaf I found...I just thought it was sort of pretty, that’s all…”

    “Well...why _wouldn’t_ I want it?” Remus asked, sounding slightly more defensive than he meant to in his flustered state.  “I-It’s nice.  And, well, you gave it to me…”

   “Oh.  Yeah, r-right.  I did.  So, er...I’m g-glad you like it.”

   Silence fell over them, awkward and stifling, and for a few seconds Remus absolutely hated himself for making things feel so weird.  But the longer he sat there the more he thought about what he had said and what Sirius had done for him — not only today, but for the past several days.  Maybe the risk was actually worth it; maybe it would pay off.  Or maybe nothing would happen at all, and though it made Remus’ insides twist with anxiety, he realized he could accept that if he had to.

    Slowly he removed his hand from Sirius’ hair, only to take the other’s left hand into his own.  Without a word he offered Sirius’ hand a gentle squeeze, determinedly avoiding the questioning gaze now burning into his own face.  He refused to look until he knew how Sirius would react, largely because he was sure he couldn’t handle being violently rejected.

    But he wasn’t rejected.  He felt Sirius eventually relax in his lap, and, most surprisingly of all, he felt Sirius squeeze his hand in return.  A thrill coursed through his body, threatening to take his breath away for a brief, yet terrific moment.  Laughter bubbled in his chest, though he had the sense not to let it out, and settled instead on a small, shy sort of smile.   It was the same smile, should he have dared to look, that had stretched across Sirius’ face as well.

   Minutes passed like seconds, washing away too quickly for either boy’s liking.  As the sun finally dipped down beneath the horizon and stars began to twinkle through the breaks in the leaves, Sirius reluctantly sat up, still clutching Remus’ hand in his own.  

    “It’s starting to get late,” he mumbled, sounding as though for all the world he didn’t want to leave his spot.  “Dinner will have started already.  James and Pete will wonder where we’ve got to.”

   “Not yet.”

   “ — Huh?”

    “I don’t want to go in just yet.  According to _my_ clock it’s only three, so we still have plenty of time.  So...so stay out here with me — j-just a little bit longer.”

    With an embarrassed grin, Remus let his head come to rest on Sirius’ shoulder, feeling a kind of warmth he was sure his own body was radiating in waves.  But he didn’t care, not a single bit, how could he?  For that brief, shining moment he felt completely at peace, happy and comfortable.  And when Sirius leaned into him, squeezing his hand one more time, Remus felt as though he could have stayed outside under that tree forever.

    October really _was_ his favorite month.


End file.
